Want to get tested for trichomoniasis?

Often trichomoniasis has no symptoms.

About 7 out of 10 people with trich have no signs of the infection at all. When the infection is in a penis, it’s very unlikely to cause symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms of trich are so mild that you don’t even notice them, or you think it’s a different infection (like a yeast infection or a UTI). So the only way to find out for sure if you have it is to get tested.

Symptoms of trichomoniasis

If you do get symptoms of trichomoniasis, they usually show up from 3 days to a month after you get the infection.

Trichomoniasis can cause symptoms in people of any gender. But trich is most likely to cause vaginitis. Symptoms of vaginitis caused by trich include:

Green, yellow, gray, frothy, and/or bad-smelling vaginal discharge

Blood in your vaginal discharge

Itching and irritation in and around your vagina

Swelling around your genitals

Pain during sex

Other symptoms of trich include pain and burning when you pee, the urge to pee a lot, discharge from your urethra, and itching and irritation inside your penis.

The signs of trich can be barely noticeable, or really painful and irritating. It’s common for the symptoms to come and go, but that doesn’t mean the infection went away. The only way to get rid of trichomoniasis is to get treated with medicine.

If you or your sexual partner has any of these symptoms, visit a nurse, doctor, or your local Planned Parenthood Health Center. You can spread trich to other people whether or not you have symptoms, so it’s important to get tested if you think you may be infected.

Like a lot of infections, trichomoniasis in men is a little different from trichomoniasis in women. For one thing, men rarely have symptoms. If they do, trichomoniasis symptoms in men may include:

Discharge from your penis

The urge to pee more than usual

Pain or burning when you pee

If you do have symptoms, they tend to show up anywhere from 3 to 28 days after you’ve gotten it.

If you’re worried you might have it, trichomoniasis testing in men is pretty simple. Your doctor or nurse will take a swab of your urethra to get a sample of cells. Then they’ll examine the cells using a microscope to make a diagnosis.

If it turns out you have it, trichomoniasis treatment is easy: your nurse or doctor will give you medicine. And using condoms can help lower the chances of getting it.